Cotton-gin cleaner.



e. n. ROBERTSON & J. w. CASH. oowom GIN CLEANER. APPLICATION IE'IILED PEB.25, N10. 981, 1 15, Patented Jam-10,1911;

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COTTON. GI-N. CLEANER. APPLIQLTION FILED PEB.25, 1910.

981,1 15, Patented Jan.10,1911.,

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I Q BMW/110108 a 922 I W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE DALLAS ROBERTSON AND JOHN WILLIAM CASH, OF BOGART, GEORGIA.

COTTON-GIN CLEANER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 10, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE D. ROBERT- SON and JOHN W. CAsH, citizens of the United States, residing at Bogart, in the county of Oconee and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton-Gin Cleaners, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in cleaning devices for cotton gin saws and has for its object to provide a device of this character which is carried by the rotating brush cylinder and which is adapted to be automatically actuated to position a plurality of scraping members between the adjacent saw blades, whereby the damp cotton which fills the throats of the saw teeth may be removed Without necessitating the stopping of the machine.

Another object is to provide a plurality of cam actuated scraping members, the actuation of said members being so timed as to obviate the possibility of the same striking or damaging the teeth'of the saws, while at the same time the cleaning of the teeth thereof is assured. A further object resides in the provision of a saw cleaning device particularly adapted to the cleaning of the teeth of gin saws which is of very simple construction and by the use of which the ginning of cotton is materially facilitated.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an end elevation of the brush cylinder of the gin saws, illustrating the application of our improved cleaning device; Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof; Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one of the scraper blades.

Referring more particularly to the drawings 5 indicates the brush cylinder which carries a plurality of longitudinally disposed brushes 6. This cylinder is mounted upon the drive shaft 7 to which power is applied in any preferred manner. A plurality of circular saws 8 are mounted upon the shaft 9 arranged adjacent to the brush cylinder, and as shown by the arrows in Fig. 1 of the drawing these saws and the brush cylinder are adapted to rotate in opposite directions, or toward each other. The application of power to the shafts 7 and 9 whereby this opposite rotation of the brush and saw blades is secured forms no part of the present invention and will therefore require no additional disclosure.

The brush cylinder 5 is supported between the ends of a suitable frame 10 in which the extremities of the shaft 7 are journaled. Arranged at intervals upon the periphery of the brush cylinder are our improved scraping devices. As shown in the drawing three of these scrapers would preferably be employed. They each comprise the spaced parallel plates 11 which are suitably secured to the cylinder between the brushes thereon. A plurality of scraper blades 12 have their inner ends journaled between the plates 11. This portion of each of the scraper blades is cylindrical in form as shown at 13, and has rigidly secured thereto intermediate of its ends an arm 14. The outer ends of the scraping members are formed with an enlarged blade or head 15. These blades are of segmental form and are adapted to extend inwardly between the adjacent saws 8.- The upper ends of the arms 14 are each pivotally connected to a longitudinal bar 16. This bar extends the entire length of the brush cylinder and the ends thereof are rounded as shown at 16.

The ends of the cylinder supporting frame are each formed upon its inner facewith a cam 17. These cams are preferably of the form shown in Fig. 2 and are disposed out of alinement with each other. The ends of the longitudinal bar 16 are adapted to engage in the rotation of the brush cylinder with these cam surfaces by which the bar is reciprocated to oscillate the scraper blades 15 as they approach the gin saw. The upper plate 11 through which the arms 14 extend is provided with a pluralityof slots 18 to permit of the full extent of movement of said arms in the turning of the scraping blades.

In the ginning of wet or damp cotton, the cotton is fed onto the saw blades 8, and as these saw-blades are rotated in the direct-ion of the brush cylinder, and the brush cylinder is rotated in the opposite direction, the brushes will remove the cotton from the teeth of the saws. This has been found to be ineffectual, as the brushes will not entively remove the damp cotton and the throats of the saw. teeth soon become filled or clogged and they therefore will not take up thecotton so that the machine must be stopped and the saws cleaned by hand. Thus considerable time is lost and the cleaning of the saws is very laborious.

By the provision of our improved scraping blades, we eliminate the necessity for stopping the operation and the feeding of the machine, as the saws will be automatically and thoroughly cleaned and the liability of injury or damage thereto is avoided. From reference to Fig. t it will be noted that when the scraper blades approach the cams 17 on the ends of the supporting frame, the end of the longitudinal bar 16 will be engaged by one of said cams and the scraping blades oscillated to angularly position the same. As the rotation of the brush cylinder continues, the opposite end of the bar 16 will engagewith the other of the cams and it will be readily seen that the bar will be transversely moved and the scraper blades turned to occupy substantially the entire, space between the saw blades and yet obviate the liability of damage thereto, the

blades not being so turned until they have entered between the saws. As the brush cylinder rotates the broad fiat faces of-the scraping blades will remove the damp cotton which has accumulated in the teeth of the saws and between the same. The blades 15 will retain this position until the brush cylinder has made a complete revolution and the end of the bar 14 is again engaged by the first of the cams 17 to return the scraping members to their normal inoperative position.

From the foregoing it is believed that the construction, operation and many advantages of our improved cotton saw cleaning device will be readily understood without requiring a more extended description. It is simple, may be easily and quickly applied to gin saws as at present constructed, and is entirely automatic in its operation. By its use the great loss of time occasioned by the constant necessity of stopping the machine to clean the teeth of the saws is eliminated, and the ginning of cotton may be much more satisfactorily and quickly accomplished than has heretofore been possible. The device is moreover extremely durable in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and highly efficent in operation. 7

While we have particularly described and show what we believe to be the preferable form of our invention, it will be understood that the same is susceptible of numerous minor modifications without affecting the e."-

sential features or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. The combination with a rotatable brush cylinder and a plurality of rotatable saws, of oscillatory scraping blades carried by said cylinder and adapted to enter between the saws, and means for oscillating said scraping blades when disposed between the saws whereby said blades are caused to occupy substantially the entire space separating the adjacent saws substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with a brush cylinder and a plurality of blades mounted to rotate in opposite directions, of a plurality of oseillatory scraping blades carried by said brush cylinder, means for oscillating said blades to anguiarly position the same as they enter between the saw blades and to then turn said scraper blades to occupy the entire space separating said saws substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In combination with a bruslrcylinder and a plurality of circular saw blades mounted to rotate in opposite directions, of a plurality of scraping blades arranged in series upon the periphery of said brush cylinder, said blades being adapted to extend between. the saw blades, and means for oscillating said scraping blades substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination with a brush cylinder and a plurality of spaced circular saw blades mounted for opposite rotative movement, of a plurality of oscillatory scraper blades carried by the brush cylinder, a movable bar connecting the scraper blades, and means engaging the opposite ends of said bar to oscillate the scraper blades as they enter between the saw blades.

5. The combination with a rotatable brush cylinder mounted in a supporting frame and a plurality of saw blades mounted to rotate in the opposite direction to said brush cylinder, of a plurality of'oscillatory scraper blades arranged in series upon the periphery of the brush cylinder, cams formed upon the inner faces of the ends of the supporting frame, and means connected to said scraping blades adapted to engage with said cams to angularly position the blades upon their entrance between the saw blades and to then turn the same to entirely fill the space separating said blades.

6. The combination with a rotatable brush cylinder mounted in a suitable supporting frame and a plurality of circular rotatable saw blades, of spaced plates secured to the periphery of the brush cylinder, a plurality of scraper blades disposed within said plates extending upwardly therefrom, the outer ends of said blades being enlarged and adapted to move between the adjacent saw blades, an arm secured to each of the scrap ing members, a transversely extending longitudinal bar having pivotal connection with each of said arms, and a cam formed upon the inner face of the ends of the cylinder support, said cams being disposed out of alinement and adapted to be engaged by the ends of said longitudinal said scraping blades, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. The combination with a brush cylinder and a plurality of spaced saw blades mounted to rotate in opposite directions, of a plurality of movable scraping blades carried by said brush cylinder, and means for simulta neously moving the scraping blades to permit them to enter between the saw blades, and for moving said scraping blades to substantially occupy the entire space between adjacent saw blades after their entrance therebeti'veen.

8. The combination with a rotatable brush cylinder mounted in a supporting frame and a plurality of saw blades mounted to rotate in the opposite direction to said brush cylinder, of a plurality of oscillatory scraper blades mounted upon the brush cylinder, a connecting element connecting the scraper bar to oscillate blades for simultaneous oscillation, and means on the brush supporting frame to engage the opposite ends of said connecting element and oscillate the scraper blades whereby they will occupy substantially the entire space between adjacent saw blades.

9. The combination with a rotatable brush cylinder mounted in a supporting frame and a plurality of saw blades mounted to rotate in the opposite direction to said brush cylinder, of a plurality of oscillatory scraper blades carried by the brush cylinder, a bar connecting said scraper blades, and means on the brush supporting frame for enga 'ement with the opposite ends of the bar at dlfferent points in the rotation of the brush cylinder to oscillate the scraper blades to permit of their entrance between the saw blades, and to then turn said scraper blades to occupy substantially the entire space between the saw blades.

In testimony whereof we hereunto affiX our signatures in the presence of two wit nesses.

GEORGE DALLAS ROBERTSON. JOHN WILLIAM CASH. lVitnesses:

T. J. Sums, C. C. ROBERTSON. 

